where the white house has rejected the counteroffer from house republicans in the fiscal cliff negotiations. let's take a look at the gop offer. this is their version. it cuts $2.2 trillion from the deficit over ten years. that number also includes entitlement reforms raising the age for social security and medicare and so forth as well as $800 billion that they say they would throw into the pot in new tax revenue that would come from tax reform, from cutting tax loopholes and the like. joined now, very pleased to have with us california republican ken mccarthy, the house majority whip. congressman, welcome. good to see you this morning. >> thanks for having me. martha: so you put your number out there, you know, all kinds of response across the board this morning saying that it is, you know, equally laughable, ridiculous. there's no way that the white house is going to counter that offer. what do you think about that? >> well, i think that's sad, because think about what this president said when he campaigned. he said he wanted a balanced approach. he said he wanted 800 billio